"Dante Ristorante" Plein Air Painting Today

"Dante Ristorante, Leigh House", oil on Raymar by Jill Banks

Today I returned to this painting of the restaurant that's right next to the Artists' Atelier. The Colvin Run Historic Street Fair was on from noon-4pm and I had lots of visitors stop by while I painted to clue me in on the history of the building. Dante Ristorante is housed in the original Leigh House, home to generations of doctors. One of my visitors, who has lived in the area for 42 years, had frequented the home many times. To write this post, I researched further on the Dante Ristorante web site and found it has a rich history as the headquarters for a large dairy farm and the area's only "lying in" hospital. Now I'll look at my neighbor a bit differently!

As I said, I had a lot of visitors stop and talk. A favorite group were four young guys riding all over Great Falls on their bikes. They stopped to look and raved. That was nice! Two are into art ... enjoying it at school.

This coming Thursday, May 19 is Art Night Out!, a fundraiser for the Great Falls School of Art held at the Riverbend Country Club, 7 to 10pm with art auctions (I have four pieces in the auction), demos (I'll be painting), and entertainment. Cost is $75. Go to the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts web site for more info and to download a reply card.

100 Faces in 100 Days Exhibits

All 100 faces will be on view two times this Spring/Summer.  Come see!

May 3-31 at the Great Falls Library, 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA

Demo/Artist’s Talk: Saturday, May 21, 2-5pm

August 1-31 at the Gallery in the Artists' Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA 22066

Reception: Friday, August 12, 6-9pm

Ice Cream Social: Saturday, August 13, 2-4pm

www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435